Requisites of Perfect Balance 



101 



balance as it is to regulate the direct extension forward and backward. 

 The proper balance of foot and shoe from side to side or quarter to 

 quarter is, therefore, a matter that requires great skill and knowledge 

 on the part of the shoer. 



It is much easier to have ground surface and angle of foot in 

 correct relation. Heel and toe are readily responsive to treatment, but 

 in its lateral construction the foot is often very defective. The fore 

 are not evenly rounded nor are the hind of an evenly oblong shape; 

 and yet the theory of pointing is verified by the motion of misshapen 

 feet. 



Q 



B 



The foot, divided by two axes at right angles to each other, as 

 given in A of Fig. 76, should, in ideal lateral balance, show equal or 

 symmetrical surfaces outlined by the rim of the foot ; and the axis of 

 leg, as in B, should meet rim of foot exactly at M, the apex of that 

 rim or the point of the toe. Such perfect conditions do not always 

 prevail, but the remedy for such desirable symmetry lies in the ap- 

 plication of the theory of pointing, and in following the rule of com- 

 pensation. 



By the rule of compensation is meant the general offset of one 

 defect by an increase of development in its opposite and symmetrical 

 direction. In the conformation of a horse, Nature tries to offset or 



